The Future of School Technology

Technology in school is rapidly changing. Schools are using the tool of technology to teach students. For example, the school that I go to gives each student a Macbook. Students can do many things with this laptop. My school is using a social networking site for teaching called Schoology. With this website, students can get lesson plans, homework, ask teachers and other students questions, and see upcoming events in the school.

Another thing students can do with these laptops is communicate with teachers. There is an application called iChat that is like text messaging, but for laptops. Students can ask questions and get help if they are not in school. Another thing students can do on the laptop is get textbooks and books. Instead of using print textbooks and books, all of them are on a massive e-library. This helps because students no longer have to bring a book home since it is already on our laptops.

My school uses Google for email and making Google documents. Every person in the school has an Gmail account. With this account the students can make documents and share them with other students. This helps with group projects because multiple people can type on a document at once from different computers. Laptops also help with making better projects. We use applications like iMovie to make videos about topics; Powerpoint, Glogster and Prezi to make presentations; and Garageband to make music and other sound files.

Another aspect of the laptops is checking grades. After taking a test or quiz, teachers grade them and put them on a website called eschool. Each student has an eschool account and can check their grade as soon as possible. Instead of waiting until the end of the marking period to find out their grade, the student will know exactly what grade he or she is going to receive. Laptops are also good for turning in papers. At the school I go to, we hardly use paper. We type our papers on our laptop and turn it in to a website called turnitin.com, where the teachers can see it and grade it. This helps because there is no more excuses like “My printer was out of ink.”

One of the best things about these laptops is doing a research project is so much easier. Instead of using books, all the information can be found on the Internet. Using “scholarly sources” or, in other reliable sources, students can do research on topics assigned in class. Notes can also be taken on the laptops. There is no more, “I am out of paper.” Notes are taken on Microsoft Word or Google Docs.

Technology in school is changing with technology. Technology is giving students more resources to help them learn faster, better and smarter.